Many years ago, I found a Dobie in a shelter in Reno Nv. She was a bit on the thin side, but, one look and I could not leave her there. I adopted her. She brought me many years of love. I would go for walks with her, we lived out in the desert so she was free to run with no leash.

She loved chasing the little horny toads and for some reason that I just now realized we never crossed the path of a rattlesnake. Hmmm. I would sit on the steps and she would lie down beside me and never move. She was the most amazing dog I have ever had.

I was sent to Korea and my wife kept her. I came back on a leave, my wife asked for a divorce. She wanted the dog, since I was still stationed in Korea, I had no choice. She took the dog and most of everything else. Two weeks after I left, she gave the dog away.

I have had many dogs since, but, I always remember Princess. I miss her to this day. I hope she had a good life.

We had Abby for four wonderful years. We found her in the middle of a mountain highway, a shivering, scared little puppy someone with no heart had thrown away. She was a golden lab, emaciated and covered with fleas and body sores. We took her to our vet, who kept her for several days. He had to get her hydrated and rid her body of the fleas and their their awful damage.

But it wasn't long until she became a loving part of our family. She was very loyal, going everywhere with me around our place. She slept in my basement hobby room, where she had one of those big, fluffy dog beds placed so she could see me when I was working in there. No matter what Abby was doing, if she knew I was in the hobby room, she came to keep me company. She grew into a beautiful dog.

Our house sits up on a hill, above a sideroad which is sometimes used as a throughway if work is being done on the main highway. Abby seldom went off the hill, but now and then she liked to play in the field below that sideroad with a little Jack Russel friend. One day, while crossing the road to go into the field, Abby was hit by a car. Of course, the driver did not stop, but we got her to our vet and he had to amputate Abby's right front leg. After that, she learned to run like the wind and totally ignored the fact that she only had three legs.

On July 4, 2004, I found Abby lying on her outside bed in our carport. She was dead. Just awhile before, she'd been walking around the yard and playing with a butterfly. She had died of a heart attack. Our vet said her big body and her wild and glorious running on three legs had caused her heart to become enlarged.

Grief-stricken, we buried Abby below the house in a grove of hickory trees and covered her grave with a huge stone. Sometimes, when I'm feeling especially down or discouraged, I'll go and sit on that stone and imagine I can see our Abby, running and chasing butterflies among the trees. She'll look back at me and wag her tail, as if to say, "Hey, cheer up. You know I still love you, and everything is going to be all right."

I miss Abby and think of her every day.

Catherine

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

I have never been without amimals, both cats and dogs. Don't have a dog now because I couldn't take proper care of one. Have seven cats though, plus strays and wild things like raccoons, groundhogs, squirrels and the like.

Most of my animals have been Heinz 57s.

One dog was given to me because his family had to move from their country place with acreage and a pond. Their new home had a postage size lawn and was not suitable for this dog who loved the great outdoors.

Max wrote home every month, starting his letters:

Dear Family,

You wouldn't believe the terrible place you left me.

And from there he would describe his latest run-ins with the other dogs, the cats and me.

His family saved the letters and wanted me to write a book with them. That was before President's dogs started writing books. Poor Max wouldn't have stood a chance.

A friend in Texas just offered me a purebred Chihuahua, $800 dog. I would so love to take that dog--it has been a long time since I had the kind of companionship only a dog provides. I just can't see a four pound dog trying to have a good life with huge, aggressive cats all around and banditos (raccoons) in the yard.

I would envy you all who can have dogs, but at your age I still was able to take care of them and enjoyed every minute of their lives. Only parting with them left a sadness that can't be filled.

Thanks, DK...I loved your story, too. In fact, it was inspirational and made me want to tell Abby's story.

Have any of you ever written OPETUARIES? They're obituaries for our animal friends who pass on. I've written them for Abby and for our beloved cats Ty Ling and Sam.

Dori...by all means, please see if you can find a publisher for those stories. Maybe your local newspaper would like to publish them as a human interest series, or perhaps you could submit them to magazines about animals.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman